The Brief

Almost 400 water systems serving nearly a million Californians don’t meet state requirements for safe and reliable drinking water supplies — and fixing them would cost billions of dollars.

More than two-thirds of these failing water systems serve communities of color, and more than half are in places struggling with poverty and pollution, according to an annual assessment released today by the State Water Resources Control Board.

These water systems failed to provide water “which is at all times pure, wholesome, and potable,” as required. Some violated drinking water standards for chemicals, bacteria, taste or odor. Others rely on bottled water, or have failed to meet treatment, monitoring or other requirements.

About 913,000 people, as of Jan. 1, were served by the water systems that didn’t meet the requirements, dropping to about 771,000 as of today. Even more Californians, around 1.54 million, got their drinking water from hundreds of water systems considered at risk of failing, the report said — and it rose to more than 1.8 million as of today. Nearly 144,000 wells were threatened by encroaching contaminants and shortages.

Failing water systems span the state — from tiny Del Norte County on the Oregon state line to San Diego and Imperial counties near the border with Mexico. They cluster densely in the Central Valley and along the Central Coast, where groundwater overuse, agricultural chemicals and smaller, struggling water systems collide — particularly in lower income communities of color.

“It’s a moral outrage. It’s unconscionable in a state that has so many resources that we can’t ensure that everybody has access to the human right to water,” said Kyle Jones, policy and legal director with the Community Water Center. “Folks shouldn’t have to suffer health impacts or added cost to have access to something that most of us take for granted and can get daily.”

The price tag for ensuring safe, affordable and accessible water supplies for all Californians is staggering — an estimated $16 billion over the next five years — as the state grapples with a multibillion-dollar deficit.

Without more state or federal funding, most of the total — around $13.9 billion — may fall on local communities and well owners, according to the report. That means some of the people least able to afford it will end up paying more for water.

The number of failing systems — and the cost of fixing them — is likely to climb as water suppliers must meet new state and federal standards for hexavalent chromium, the contaminant made infamous by the movie “Erin Brockovich,” as well as pervasive forever chemicals.

“The subtext of this report is pretty clear,” said Greg Pierce, director of UCLA’s Human Right to Water Solutions Lab, who commended the water board’s transparency and extensive analysis. “The state just needs to put its money where its mouth is.”

It’s been 12 years since California became the first state in the country to recognize clean, safe, affordable and accessible drinking water as a human right. Today about 98% of Californians are served by water systems that meet state standards.

Yet despite California’s reputation as an economic powerhouse and climate leader, the state has long struggled to ensure safe drinking water for all — especially those in rural, disadvantaged communities. Californians relying on household wells, for instance, are beyond the state’s regulatory reach.

The annual assessment comes from the water board’s Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) drinking water program, established by state law in 2019. Nearly a billion dollars has been spent on grants in disadvantaged communities.

The list of failing water systems typically hovers between 380 and 400, state officials said. And nearly every year, with only a couple of exceptions, more water systems have been added to the “failing” list than removed.

Still, about 283, or 42% of 715 systems that were on the list, came off between 2017 through 2023. About 700,000 more people have safe water than in 2019, according to the water board.

But the pace of ensuring safe drinking water is too slow, the state auditor said in a report lambasting the water board two years ago. It “has funding available to help these failing systems improve the quality of their drinking water. Nonetheless, the board has generally demonstrated a lack of urgency in providing this critical assistance,” the auditor said.

Kristyn Abhold, a senior environmental scientist at the water board who led today’s report, said infrastructure takes time. “It’s not just the funding side, but it’s the planning. It’s the engineering reports, the community engagement, it’s getting the right permits in place,” she said.

The cost estimates have risen about $1.1 billion, or about 26%, since a 2021 assessment for failing and at-risk public water systems, and $3.6 billion for high-risk private, household wells and small water systems that serve only a handful of customers — a 264% increase, said Jackie Carpenter, a water board spokesperson.

Part of the increase is due to inflation, Abhold said. Some is because the latest analysis favors long-term, higher-cost fixes, such as merging struggling water systems with more secure ones nearby. And some is because the analysis now includes water systems and household wells at risk for shortages, rather than just ones grappling with poor water quality.

The water board projects that it can cover about $2 billion of the $15.9 billion estimated cost with grants — leaving $13.9 billion to be shouldered by water suppliers and well owners, including those that are least financially able to weather such a blow.

Smaller systems already charge about $32 more a month than larger ones, according to the report, and about 13% of community water systems face medium to high affordability burdens.

Two years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill to establish a program to help low income Californians pay for water because the bill had “no sustainable, ongoing funding identified,” though another water assistance bill is now winding its way through the Legislature.

State officials said drinking water programs have largely escaped the major funding cuts in the latest budget deal: While more than $152 million from the general fund from drinking water and wastewater was cut, nearly $225 million from cap and trade proceeds was included. “In sum, we do not anticipate a net reduction in funding available for drinking water projects,” said water board spokesperson Dimitri Stanich.

Safe drinking water advocates say that it is still far too little.

The funding gap identified in the report “is huge, particularly given how little the program will receive over the next two years,” said Jennifer Clary, California director of Clean Water Action. Clary advocated for drinking water funding in a climate bond that is still being negotiated.

“Drinking water infrastructure isn’t a luxury item. Without these projects, thousands of Californians will continue to lack access to safe and clean drinking water.”

It's going to be a warm Wednesday here in Southern California.

Overcast skies will be more present along the coast this morning, followed by a mostly sunny afternoon. Temperatures along the beaches will reach the upper 60s to mid 70s for the inland coast.

Meanwhile, over in the valleys, temperatures will rise up to the mid 70s and low 80s, up to 85 degrees in the Inland Empire. Coachella Valley will be sunny with temperatures ranging from 92 to 97 degrees.

The Olympics ticket pre-sale for locals wraps up Wednesday, but some in Southern California left the first ticket drop empty-handed after seeing the high prices.

Fans — or potential ones — reported sticker shock, big purchases and broken hearts after logging on to secure a spot at the 2028 Games and finding prices as high as $5,500, and a 24% service fee. Tickets for $28 for many events sold out fast, as did many many for under $100.

Sarah Maizes of Miracle Mile got a slot to buy tickets and wanted to get seats at artistic gymnastics for her daughter, who's a huge fan. But after she saw the limited options and the high prices, she didn't end up buying any.

"I understand tickets to events are expensive. I have paid for Taylor Swift tickets," Maizes said. "Here's the problem. The campaign made you feel like you had a shot at an insider deal because we are hosting the Olympics and this is our town…and I'm looking at tickets online for $400 a person, $600 a person, $2,100."

The high prices reflect a stark uptick in sports tickets across the board in recent years, amid hyper-focus on wealthier fans, an ever-increasing demand for live entertainment, and dynamic pricing — where sellers can adjust prices based on that demand.

In the case of the Olympics, the local organizing committee LA28 is counting on ticket and hospitality sales to bring in a whopping $2.5 billion to cover the costs of putting on the Games. If they don't hit that mark, public funds could be on the line.

Still, Olympics super-fan Denny Nivens in Hermosa Beach, who said he's attended eight summer Games, said the prices were the highest he'd ever seen, by a long shot.

"It's completely unprecedented," Nivens said. "I think they're pricing a whole lot of people out completely."

How many $28 tickets are left?

LA28 has not laid out how many tickets it released in its drop for locals, or put out official prices. Instead, it laid out that 1 million tickets would be $28, more than half would be over $200, and 5% would be more than $1,000.

But Angelenos who participated in the ticket drop told LAist they felt drawn in by the promise of $28 tickets, only to see astronomical prices on their screens.

Many reported that the cheapest tickets were almost entirely unavailable. By Monday, one buyer reported only seeing $28 tickets left for women's golf prelims and women's soccer matches outside of Los Angeles.

LA28 spokesperson Gigi Gutierrez told LAist via email that hundreds of thousands of $28 tickets had been sold — and tens of thousands remained available as of Monday.

"That's hundreds of thousands of Angelenos that were able to get incredibly affordable tickets," Gutierrez said.

She said that the future availability of $28 tickets would depend on how many were sold in Drop One, indicating that cheap tickets could only become harder to come by.

Why are tickets getting more expensive?

Olympics prices aren't the only ones on the rise. FIFA has also come under fire for the cost of attending this year's World Cup, which have been listed for thousands of dollars. It's a trend that fans are seeing not just in mega-events but in average sports seasons, too.

One reason that tickets are rising, sports economist Victor Matheson told LAist, is simple: there are more people than ever who want access to sporting and music events and can afford to pay for them. But capacity remains basically the same.

"The Coliseum in Rome at 2,000 years old is about the same size as the Coliseum in L.A.," Matheson said. " You have more and more people, and more and more money, fighting for basically the same number of seats and the same amount of entertainment."

But he also pointed to the ever-smarter technology sports teams and events organizers have at their fingertips that allow them to jack up prices. These techniques and the many fees associated with ticket purchases have come under increasing scrutiny, as consumer experiences increasingly cater to the very wealthy and fans wonder who profits when ticket prices jump.

Ticket revenue is a major part of LA28's budget

The success of ticket sales in Los Angeles will be critical to the success of the Olympic Games. Organizers currently have a $7.1 billion budget to put on the Olympics — and much of the expected revenue will come from ticket sales.

LA28 hasn't said specifically how many Olympics tickets are for sale, only that together with the Paralympics, there are 14 million tickets in total.

But Rich Perelman, who worked for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, recently estimated that if 12 million of those tickets are for the Olympic Games in particular, the average ticket price would need to be $208.33 to hit the $2.5 billion in expected revenue.

"That’s why they are so expensive," Perelman wrote on his website The Sports Examiner.

Matheson, the sports economist, said high ticket sales could help LA28 stay out of the red.

" [It's] actually pretty good for taxpayers," Matheson said of Olympics tickets being high. "In that the more money that's raised from ticket prices, the less likely any taxpayers will be on the hook for cost overruns at the Olympics."

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is using spyware tools that can intercept encrypted messages as part of the agency's efforts to disrupt fentanyl traffickers, according to a letter sent last week by the agency's acting director, Todd Lyons.

Lyons' letter, which was reviewed by NPR, said ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is using various tools as part of its mission to disrupt and dismantle foreign terrorist organizations "particularly those involved in the trafficking of fentanyl."

Lyons wrote "in response to the unprecedented lethality of fentanyl and the exploitation of digital platforms by transnational criminal organizations" he approved HSI's "use of cutting-edge technological tools that address the specific challenges posed by the Foreign Terrorist Organizations' thriving exploitation of encrypted communication platforms."

His letter, dated April 1, was a belated response to an October inquiry from three Democratic members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform expressing concern about the agency's potential use of the spyware Graphite, which was created by an Israeli company, Paragon Solutions.

The letter is the first time ICE has indicated it is using Graphite. The agency initially signed a $2 million contract with Paragon Solutions for an unspecified software product at the end of the Biden administration. But the contract was swiftly paused until it was revived by the Trump administration last fall.

Graphite uses what is known as "zero click" technology so that it can gain access to encrypted messages on a targeted device even if the user never clicks on a link.

The encrypted messaging app WhatsApp disclosed last year that it discovered some 90 journalists and members of civil society in various countries were targeted with Graphite. Researchers at The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy later identified specific journalists and humanitarian aid providers in Italy whose devices were infected with Graphite through WhatsApp messages. Paragon ended its contract with Italian government agencies in 2025.

Lyons' confirmation that the agency is using spyware comes as ICE has ramped up its use of surveillance technologies to find people in the U.S. without authorization as part of the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign. Those tools have also been used extensively on American citizens who have protested ICE's activities. The revelation also comes shortly before Congress is set to debate whether to reauthorize a surveillance law, and whether to close a legal loophole that allows the federal government to buy data about millions of Americans in bulk from commercial data brokers.

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., one of the authors of the October letter asking for answers about ICE's use of spyware, told NPR in a statement, "The response I received from ICE makes one thing clear. They are moving forward with invasive spyware technology inside the United States."

Lee expressed disappointment that Lyons did not provide substantive answers to her questions, including who could be targeted with the technology and the legal basis for using it within the United States.

"The people most at risk, including immigrants, Black and brown communities, journalists, organizers, and anyone speaking out against government abuse, deserve more than secrecy and deflection from an agency with a long record of overreach and abuse," Lee's statement said.

Lyons' letter said any use of the tool "will comply with constitutional requirements" and will be coordinated with the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.

The Paragon Solutions' contract was initially put on hold in 2024 to review its compliance with an executive order then-President Joe Biden signed in 2023 that bars the use of commercial spyware that poses a national security risk to the United States or poses a risk to be misused by foreign governments.

Lyons wrote in his letter that in accordance with the 2023 executive order, he had "certified that HSI's operational use of the specific tool does not pose significant security or counterintelligence risks, or significant risks of improper use by a foreign government or foreign person."

Paragon Solutions was purchased by an American private investment firm AE Industrial Partners in late 2024, which merged with the cybersecurity company REDLattice. Neither AE Partners or REDLattice returned NPR's request for comment.

Lyons' response alarmed civil liberties advocates who worry about the potential for ICE to abuse the tool and use it against targets beyond drug traffickers and terrorists.

"The biggest concern now is that Lyons' response doesn't rule out ICE using an administrative subpoena to deploy this malware against people living in the United States as part of their ideological battle against constitutionally protected protest," said Cooper Quintin, senior staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for digital privacy.

"An extremely invasive surveillance capability such as this should require the strongest judicial oversight and confirmation that such intrusion is necessary and [a] proportionate response to the crime being investigated," Quintin said.

Maria Villegas Bravo, a lawyer with the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center, said the U.S. does not have sufficient regulations in place "to stop the U.S. government from abusing Constitutional and human rights in the process of using this technology."

In response to an NPR inquiry to the Department of Homeland Security about its use of Graphite and the concerns raised, a DHS official who did not identify themselves wrote, "DHS is a law enforcement agency. ICE is no different. Employing various forms of technology in support of investigations and law enforcement activities aids in the arrest of criminal gang members, child sex offenders, murderers, drug dealers, identity thieves and more, all while respecting civil liberties and privacy interests."

Villegas Bravo said that by paying for Graphite, the U.S. is helping to bolster the market for technologies that are being exploited by foreign governments to undermine the privacy of messaging applications and carry out invasive surveillance of phones.

"This is a grave national security risk because it weakens American critical infrastructure, including our telecommunications networks," Villegas Bravo said.
Copyright 2026 NPR

New research is backing up what many residents in the Vernon area have already feared: the Exide cleanup is missing a lot of lead.

UC Irvine researchers found excessive lead in the area 11 years after the battery plant closed, as well as evidence that the remediation area may need to be expanded.

Lead is a toxic metal that can cause short- and long-term health effects, including neurological and reproductive changes. Exposure is especially dangerous for children and pregnant people.

A brief history of the Exide cleanup

Exide Technologies operated the 15-acre smelting facility in Vernon between 1922 and 2015. It processed 11 million auto batteries a year, releasing an estimated 3,500 tons of lead into the surrounding communities of Maywood, East Los Angeles, Commerce, Bell and Huntington Park.

After the federal government shuttered the plant over hazardous waste violations, California declared it an environmental disaster. It has since spent more than $750 million so far cleaning up the site and residential homes. The remediation zone was set at a 1.7-mile radius around the facility.

As of March 27, over 6,000 properties have been cleaned, according to the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control, which oversees the effort.

Residents have complained for years about issues with the process and its thoroughness. Even though homes were deemed clean, investigations have found excessive lead on the grounds. Contractors have also reportedly violated state standards for soil removal and environmental regulations with toxic dust spread.

Key findings

Jill Johnston, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at UC Irvine and lead author, said this is the  first peer-reviewed study looking at the problem and how it extends beyond the remediation zone.

Between October 2021 and September 2024, the researchers worked with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice to collect more than 1,000 soil samples from 373 residential properties.

This figure shows the approximate locations of residential soil samples collected for the study.

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Courtesy Get The Lead Out Study

)

More than two thirds of samples from remediated homes still had over 80 ppm of lead, the state’s threshold for use, with 19% of those samples reaching over 200 ppm.

The study also looked at neighborhoods outside the state’s defined cleanup area. Nearly 90% of those sampled homes were beyond acceptable levels. Seven in 10 homes had at least one sample above 200 ppm, according to the findings.

The study suggests two things for remediated homes — either contaminated soil wasn’t fully removed, and/or it was recontaminated by historically present lead, like that in paint or freeway exhaust particles.

“ We don’t think that if you adequately remove the soil from the home, that we should be seeing this much recontamination just from lead paint that’s on the exterior of the house,” Johnston said.

Another author on the study, East Yard’s mark! Lopez, an  Eastside community organizer, said the research helps affected residents, many of whom are predominantly Latino, fight against  environmental racism.

“ We’re bringing the personal narrative, the collective experience, peer review data to the table," he said. "It’s an extra layer of credibility to be able to really push the agency to do right, to push the state to do right by our communities.”

LAist has reached out to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication. We’ll update this story once it’s received.

The L.A. County Department of Public Health, which participates on the Exide Technical Advisory Committee (a public forum for residents and agencies to communicate about the cleanup), said in a statement the study matters from a public health perspective.

“The findings underscore the importance of continued evaluation of cleanup effectiveness, consideration of post-remediation testing and ongoing efforts to reduce exposure,” the department added.

Calling for change

The study makes multiple policy change suggestions — some of which have already been implemented, such as third-party monitoring of cleanup crews.

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice is calling for expanded remediation beyond the 1.7-mile boundary. They also want a commitment to resampling every cleaned up home, and if needed, correcting lead problems. He wants those results to be shared with communities in a timely manner.

As of 2025, Johnston said all new homes are getting cleaned and are getting retested. For homes cleaned prior to that, a sample of homes are being rechecked.